


A Miscalculation

by JazTheBard



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Found Family, Gen, Kidnapping, Protectiveness, Rescue, and not in the kidnapdoption way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:33:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25450174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JazTheBard/pseuds/JazTheBard
Summary: Based on a prompt from foundfamilybingo on tumblr.Morgoth has Lúthien's heirs kidnapped and brought to Angband as revenge against her and to hurt Maedhros and Maglor, who have by all accounts grown quite attached.Maedhros and Maglor have no choice but to go and rescue them.
Relationships: Elrond Peredhel & Maedhros | Maitimo, Elrond Peredhel & Maglor | Makalaurë, Elros Tar-Minyatur & Maedhros | Maitimo, Elros Tar-Minyatur & Maglor | Makalaurë
Comments: 34
Kudos: 148





	A Miscalculation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starlightwalking](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightwalking/gifts).



> full disclosure morgoth and sauron get murdered here
> 
> anyway this is for @arofili on tumblr aka starlightwalking here on ao3, this was for Found Family Prompt #56, Revenge By Proxy, aka hurting the kids to get at the parents. it got really really long oof
> 
> anyway this is more violent than what i usually write but it's not graphic, there's just some stabbing

Sauron bowed. "My lord," he said, "I have the latest news from the elves."

"Proceed," said Morgoth, waving a hand.

"All of Lúthien's heirs were thought lost as of seven years ago, but it appears two have survived. The Sons of Fëanor--"

"--What is left of them, anyhow--"

"--Indeed, my lord. The Fëanorians took them prisoner."

Morgoth raised an eyebrow. "Finally showing a bit of skill at the whole villain thing, I see."

"Not really, my lord. They got attached."

"Oh, did they?" A smile spread across Morgoth's face. "Interesting. I would very much like to meet the heirs of Lúthien and Fëanor. Bring me the children."

* * *

"What do you want, you disgusting piece of trash?" said Elrond, shaking in fear.

"Nothing just yet, child of Lúthien," said the shadowy figure on the throne, two points of blinding light above its head.

"Our parents will come for us," said Elros.

Morgoth and his lieutenant looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Which ones?" said Sauron, wiping away a tear of amusement. "The ones who have abandoned you already, or the ones who imprisoned you until they realized you were more useful if you were turned to their side?"

"But as it happens, I am rather counting on it," said Morgoth. "So that they can know everything that happens to you is their fault."

* * *

Love and desperation can make a person do unthinkable things.

In this case, Maedhros and Maglor were going to go and cut off Morgoth's head no matter what it took. The Enemy had taken their _ children. _

It was a harrowing road north, across lands that had once been beautiful but were now only a charred mockery of their former glory. The star -- the one that was a Silmaril, that they knew to be Eärendil -- almost seemed to be guiding them.

"I suppose he wants his children back safely, too," said Maglor. "I suppose once we rescue them, if he ever shows up, we'll have to give Elrond and Elros back."

Maedhros hummed in agreement, his mind elsewhere.

When Maglor went to sleep that night and Maedhros stood lookout, he prayed.

"Please let us get them out of there," he whispered. "Valar, Eru, whoever might be listening,  _ please. _ They did nothing wrong. Even I got out, though I was damned already. And I know I have done much worse since, but I beg you, let them go home again to safety."

* * *

Elros and Elrond didn't know how long it had been before they were dragged from their cell back to the throne room. They were -- well, they were alive and had sustained no permanent damage as of yet. That was enough.

"Looks like someone came for you after all," said Sauron with a smile. "Now be good little prisoners and let the adults talk, hm?"

Both twins attempted to curse at him using a great number of words they were not supposed to know, but found themselves unable to make any sound. Sauron patted them each on the head condescendingly and strode off.

Morgoth took his seat on the throne, and a few minutes later, Maedhros and Maglor threw open the doors to the hall and walked in, stopping just before the dais with stony, expressionless faces.

Morgoth opened his mouth to give a mocking greeting.

Maedhros cut him off. "Here's how this is going to go: we are going to cut your head off, take your crown as a trophy, kill your lieutenant with it, and take back our hostages."

"Daring. I like it," said Morgoth. "Doomed to fail, as is everything you do, of course. But I do have to ask, since of course the children cannot, why do you call them hostages? By all accounts you've gotten quite attached."

Maglor said, "I must wonder who has been feeding you such lies, but no. They are collateral, to be traded for the remaining Silmaril once we have yours. I hope you have not damaged them too much; their parents may not want them returned if they are too obviously marred."

"Be fair," said Maedhros. "They are parents; they would give whatever we ask in exchange even for only the directions to their sons' graves."

Morgoth laughed. "I had been planning to torture and kill them before your eyes, but I doubt there is anything I could do that would hurt them more than you just have."

Indeed, Elrond and Elros were both sobbing (silently, of course) into each other's shoulders. Neither of them wanted to face the fact that the people who had adopted them, and loved them and raised them as their own, had only done so to... what? Quell their attempts at escape? Mock their birth parents by making them love their captors?

But wait. Morgoth had said something -- no, he  _ hadn't _ said something, something very important.

Neither Morgoth nor Sauron had referred to their adoption, not even once.

Which meant they didn't _ know. _

Elves didn't take adoption lightly, and if Morgoth knew about theirs he would never believe what Maedhros and Maglor were saying, and would actually be hurting Elrond and Elros right now.

And just as the twins realized that, their chains loosened and the silence strangling them faded away. A familiar sense of comfort surrounded them for a moment before dissipating.

_ That was Atto, _ said Elrond to his twin through ósanwe.  _ He freed us. What now? _

_ They expect us to escape, I think. We do have a lot of practice in escaping strongholds, though this one is on another level, _ said Elros.  _ But. We are descendants of Lúthien and Fingolfin both, who did great damage to the Enemy. _

_ We could turn the tide, _ said Elrond, finishing the thought.  _ Okay. When they make their move, we do too. _

Maedhros had spent that time trading barbs with Morgoth, and occasionally reinforcing the lie that he cared not at all for his children. If they hated him after this, and thought his love for them had been false, then that was their right. As long as they made it out alive.

When he judged that enough time had passed for the twins' restraints to have been removed (they weren't in his line of sight and looking would destroy the pretense he had built up), he said, "But enough of that. What was it I said we were going to do?" and ran for the throne, Maglor behind him.

To Maglor's surprise, he heard other voices raised in song beside those of himself and his brother. Elrond and Elros's voices. He willed himself not to take his eyes off the Enemy, though internally he panicked. Why had they not run away? They were supposed to run!

The throne room shook with the force of their song. Sauron found himself frozen in place, unable to move, as Maglor scaled the throne, avoiding Morgoth's attempts to swat him.

Maedhros cut at Morgoth's yet-uninjured foot, rendering him unable to stand, and he too climbed up, rather deftly for someone with one hand.

Morgoth had not been expecting such an assault, and had not the time to stand or reach for his hammer before his foot was damaged and the elves upon him, and keeping Angband intact now required a good deal of focus.

(He really should have worn armor, too.)

Maglor hacked at Morgoth's right arm and then climbed it, making for the shoulder. He grabbed Morgoth's hair and pulled sharply as Maedhros made a cut at the left arm, ensuring that Morgoth would have a hard time harming either of them.

Maglor grasped the hair and swung around to the back of Morgoth's neck, from which he climbed up to the top of the throne.

He pushed off, driving his sword in at the nape of Morgoth's neck.

Morgoth crumpled forwards, where he impaled himself upon the waiting sword of Maedhros.

"You will  _ never _ harm our sons again," Maglor hissed.

There was a pause.

"You know, I didn't actually think through how we were supposed to behead him," said Maglor.

"Start by uncrowning him, then," Maedhros called from below.

"Okay." There were sounds of metal. "You know, this is really badly made, even I could do better and I begged off of forge lessons starting the minute I figured out I could just lie about having other things to do -- there!"

The crown broke at the back, and fell and clattered on the floor, shrinking down to a much smaller size, though the Silmarils did not change.

Both the elves climbed down the throne.

"Thank you for keeping Þauron from moving, little stars," said Maedhros. "I'll take it from here."

He walked over to Sauron, still immobile (Lúthien had nearly killed Sauron on her own, two of her descendants trained by a great musician could easily hold him while he was weak with fear and grief), and plunged the points of the iron crown into the lieutenant's chest.

But the dying curse of the leaders of Angband rose, and struck Elrond and Elros to the core. They collapsed to the ground.

"No!" Maglor cried. "No, no, no, please don't die, we just got you back, please!" Elrond's breath was shallow from where he lay gathered into Maglor's arms.

Maedhros hurriedly tied the iron crown to his belt and knelt down to pick up Elros. "Wake up," he said, voice thick with gathering tears, "it's okay. We're here now, and you are safe."

In that moment, as the walls of Angband crumbled to dust without the will of a Vala to hold them, the eagles arrived.

"We meet again," said Thorondor to Maedhros. "Now hurry, this place is unstable and it shall not be safe here."

"Can you take them to someone who can heal them?" asked Maglor, standing up and lifting Elrond with him.

"Yes, and I can take the two of you as well. The children should not be alone."

To say that Maedhros was surprised would be an understatement, but he accepted and thanked Thorondor, climbing onto his back while cradling Elros. Maglor did the same.

It felt like days they were in the air, though it could have been no more than a few hours.

Maedhros squinted at the earth below. "Are those ships? And some sort of encampment? What's going on?"

"You shall see," said Thorondor, "for those people have the best chance of helping Elros and Elrond."

They landed in the camp, only to find themselves face-to-face with Gil-Galad, who was both confused and incandescent with rage.

"You--!" he began

"Now is  _ not the time,  _ your majesty," said Maedhros, out of patience. "Elros and Elrond need healing; they are very badly hurt and it is beyond our skill to mend."

Gil-Galad mentally ran through several responses before settling on, "They're alive?!"

"They might not be if you don't help them!"

"What is going on here?" said a familiar voice.

Maedhros and Maglor turned to see -- wait, Finarfin?

That didn't matter. "Our children were hurt and they need healing," said Maglor. "We really don't have the time to explain right now."

"Of course," said Finarfin, recovering quickly from his surprise at seeing his eldest nephews. "Come this way."

In the healing tent, Maedhros and Maglor gently laid their sons down, and backed up to let the healers work. The healers here included several Maiar, which was unexpected, but meant they might actually be able to help Elros and Elrond.

As soon as the healers began their work, Gil-Galad dragged Maedhros and Maglor outside, Finarfin following them.

"What are you doing?" Maglor snapped. "We need to stay with them!"

"No, you need to explain what's going on," said Gil-Galad, glaring. "What happened to them that necessitated an eagle rescue? And why did you never tell us they were alive?"

"I don't know how much more obvious we could have been," said Maglor. He crossed his arms. "If you didn't notice that they've been living with us for seven years, that's on you."

Gil-Galad would process that later. "And the eagles?"

"Morgoth abducted them as some sort of revenge, so we went and killed Morgoth," said Maedhros.

Finarfin made a choking sound. "You what?!"

Maedhros took the iron crown off his belt and held it up. "As I said, we killed Morgoth. But his dying curse landed on our children, and they now need medical attention."

" _ Your _ children? If I recall correctly, you kidnapped them, too," said Gil-Galad.

Maglor said, "Yes,  _ our _ children. We adopted them when they decided they wanted us to be their parents."

"They already have parents!"

"And they're _so very_ _present_ in their sons' lives! I know they're alive, so there's no excuse--"

"They're gone because of what you did!"

"They could have come back!"

Maedhros and Finarfin traded exasperated glances.

"That's enough," said Finarfin. "This isn't helping anyone. Now, what in Arda possessed the two of you to go to Angband on your own, without backup?"

"They had Elrond and Elros. What were we supposed to do?" said Maglor.

Maedhros nodded in agreement. "And Morgoth had to let us get there, because otherwise it wouldn't be  _ fun _ for him. If nothing else, we could provide a distraction while they made their escape. They're very good at that, you know," he added with a touch of pride.

"Forty-seven escape attempts in the first six months alone," muttered Maglor.

"But what are you doing here?" Maedhros said to Finarfin. "And with all these Maiar, too?"

"Eärendil made it to Aman to ask for aid against Morgoth, and the Valar sent us," said Finarfin.

"Over half a millennium late," said Maedhros, "and a few hours too late to actually do all that much about Morgoth, but it's nice of them to finally deign to help."

"I mean, there's still his creatures and armies to mop up," Maglor pointed out.

"True."

There was a pause.

"So I see you've gotten two-thirds of what you're after," said Gil-Galad, nodding at the crown in Maedhros's hand. "Are you planning to climb the sky for the last one?"

Maedhros and Maglor blinked.

"You know, I'd almost forgotten about that," said Maedhros. "It was hardly the first thing on my mind."

Gil-Galad raised an eyebrow disbelievingly.

"And no, we're not planning on doing anything of the kind," said Maglor. "As far as we're concerned, the Oath has been fulfilled; the Silmarils are held by ourselves and our kinsman."

Finarfin said, "Eärendil will likely want his sons back. He is supposed to visit this encampment soon."

"Elrond and Elros will decide if they want to go with him," said Maedhros. "They will not be doing anything they don't want to."

"Of course."

During the next bout of awkward silence, the Maia Eönwë came up to them and said, "Elrond and Elros should make a full recovery, the healers have told me. It is lucky they arrived before the curse set in properly, or it would have been much more difficult to remove. They shall wake in a few hours."

And true enough, Elros and Elrond awoke that evening to an embrace from all four of their parents.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! come prompt me on my tumblr @jaz-the-bard and read some of my other fics!
> 
> please leave a comment and/or kudos, the validation is what keeps me writing :)
> 
> In light of recent events: I do not consent to my own original ideas that appear in my fics being used without permission or without credit. If you are able to pick up ideas from my fic then you are certainly able to ask me for permission, and if you are going to publish, credit is REQUIRED.
> 
> This includes names such as elenyafinwë, aþelairë, and almatáru, as well as a number of other details and ideas that appear in my works.
> 
> If you are going to use my ideas for fic that excludes LGBTQ+ characters, for reasons religious or other, I do not give you permission to use them, even with credit.


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